Thursday, March 29, 2012

Springtime happiness

A sunny March afternoon, and clean sheets on the line, drying by God's goodness. It doesn't take much to make me happy.


In case you missed it the first time around (October 2010), here's what runs through my head on days like today:

Ode to a Clothesline

Oh lovely clothesline in the sun -- your praises do I sing --
drying clothes for everyone, sleeves and pants fluttering.
How humbly and simply you do your work, with only wind and sun
and the energy it takes to hang our garments one by one. 

So joyous does it make me feel to see laundry flapping there,
to save earth's electricity, and to give our sheets fresh air.
My grandmother had a line like you that held twelve children's clothes,
but you will only ever hold a quarter as much, I suppose.

This busy, fast-paced world may never understand my pleasure
in hanging up each item as if it were a secret treasure,
but I feel connected to the breeze, the sun, and pins of wood.
I sense that using a clothesline is simple, organic, and, somehow, good.

I bury my nose in my fresh-dried clothes and my electric dryer I ponder.
Sans you, clothesline, would I enjoy today's wind and sun so much? I wonder.

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